Contents

In the aftermath of a war that brought the Alpha Quadrant to the brink of destruction, StarbaseDeep Space 9 – the galaxy's nexus of scientific and military intrigue – is once more the flashpoint of impending Armageddon as a surprise attack cripples the station, killing hundreds and threatening the fragile new peace.

ColonelKira Nerys and the survivors – together with several controversial new officers – are all who stand against the outbreak of a new war and a terrible doom tied to the unborn child of CaptainBenjamin Sisko.

Elsewhere, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the starshipEnterprise make a startling discovery... one that will affect the destiny of an entire civilization and forever change the lives of those aboard Deep Space 9.

The Enterprise discovers an abandoned Cardassian freighter in the Badlands. On the Enterprise, the Starfleet veteran Commander Elias Vaughn is traveling along; he forms part of a team that rescues the Bajoran "Orb of Memories" from the freighter. All members of the away-team have orb-experiences – Commander Vaughn amongst them. He later discovers that Ben Sisko was part of his experience, but does not know what this means. Picard decides to visit Deep Space 9 and to bring the orb there.

Meanwhile, the discovery of an old text on B'Hala changes a lot – the old text not only contains a prophecy of an "Avatar", obviously referring to the still unborn child of Benjamin Sisko and Kasidy Yates, but also a prophecy about the son of the Emissary searching for his father and returning with him. As he reads the text, Jake decides to head for the wormhole and return his father, but tells no one about his plans – not even Quark, whose shuttle he buys for this mission.

The text also causes trouble aboard DS9, when a Prylar is murdered. Newly assigned security chief Ro Laren, who has some troubles adapting to DS9 and especially getting along with the new CO, Kira Nerys, is assigned with investigation and finally finds the old book hidden somewhere on DS9. She discovers that the book's prophecies all have come true until now, and she also reads that before the Avatar is born, 10,000 people will die.

The arrival of one Vedek Yevir Linjarin apparently has something to do with the book – he is on some secret mission, obviously to find and to destroy the "book of obscenities".

DS9's troubles are not limited to Yevir's arrival; the station is suddenly attacked by some Jem'Hadar ships – a disaster, since the station has not enough personnel and is heavily under repair, as is the USS Defiant. The attackers can finally be overwhelmed, but at what cost? Newly assigned second-in-command, commander Tiris Jast, is killed, and a whole starship, the Aldebaran, is destroyed. And the station was on the edge of being destroyed, too – only the sudden arrival of another Jem'Hadar ship which attacks the other ones and thus helping the Deep Space 9 crew prevents this from happening. Later, a Jem'Hadar soldier, Third Kitana'klan, is discovered aboard Deep Space 9 – he claims that he was sent by Odo to assist Kira, and he also says that it was his crew who helped wiping out the attacking Jem'Hadar, and that the attackers were some renegades, not acting according to the will of the Founders.

The book also explores the evolving relationship between some of the new (and old) main characters, including Julian Bashir and Ezri Dax, whose relationship is in some sort of troubles; newly-assigned Andorian science officer, Ensign Thirishar "Shar" ch'Thane, and Nog; and finally, Quark and Ro, who seem to get along quite well.

Canon characters listed below are linked to the main article about them. Non-canon characters are not linked, but those that recurred, appearing or being mentioned in more than one story, are defined further in Pocket DS9 characters.